June 12, 2023

By Matt Betts

Canadian Baseball Network

By our count 1,000 Canadians played college baseball on teams that competed primarily south of the border in 2023. Now two remain as the Division I College World Series begins Friday in Omaha. Let’s take a look at who they are, along with the rest of the highlights from the past week.

Gollert, Golden Eagles headed to Omaha

Left-handed pitcher Harley Gollert (Toronto, Ont.) and the Oral Roberts University Golden Eagles punched their ticket to the College World Series with a two games to one Super Regional win over Oregon. After dropping Game 1, the Golden Eagles rallied to win games 2 and 3 in front of a sold out crowd in Eugene. Gollert got the start in Game 2 and lasted 4 2/3 innings. He allowed five runs on six hits with a walk and six strikeouts as his team scored one in the seventh, one in the eighth and two in the ninth to erase a 7-4 Oregon lead.

Bucknam and the Tigers making trip to Omaha

The LSU Tigers swept their Super Regional against Kentucky and will head to Omaha, where they last won the College World Series in 2009. Right-handed pitcher Micah Bucknam (Abbotsford, BC) is in his freshman season in Baton Rouge and has appeared in eight games.

Arnold a Division I All-American

Former Fieldhouse Pirates and current Campbell Camels infielder Bryce Arnold (Grimsby, Ont.) was named to the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper All-American Third Team thanks to a .321 batting average, 17 home runs, 65 RBIs and a 1.050 OPS. He was also a semifinalist for the Dick Howser Trophy, given annually to the collegiate Player of the Year.

NJCAA Division I All-Americans feature four Canadians

Three Canadians were named to the NJCAA Division I All-American First team, with one being selected to the Second Team.

The first teamers:

Catcher Brady Cerkownyk (Toronto, Ont.) played in 55 games for Connors State College and hit .470 with 27 home runs and 107 RBIs. Cerkownyk led the nation in RBIs and was second in batting average and home runs, the latter of which he trailed only fellow Canadian infielder Robin Villeneuve (Gatineau, Que.).

Southpaw Matt Wilkinson (Ladner, BC), an Arizona State University commit, went 10-2 with a 1.07 ERA for Central Arizona College. He struck out 136 in 84 innings over 16 appearances, 14 of which were starts.

Villeneuve (Gatineau, Que.), who recently committed to the University of Tennessee, hit .401 with 28 home runs and 102 RBIs in 62 games as Weatherford College made a trip to the College World Series. Villeneuve finished first in Division I in home runs and second only to Cerkownyk in RBIs.

And the second teamer:

McCook Community College outfielder Ethan Murdoch (Swift Current, Sask.) posted a .396 batting average with 18 home runs and 82 RBIs. He had .488 on-base percentage and slugged .757. Murdoch has committed to Marshall University.

Gomm an NJCAA Division II All-American

Austin Gomm (Georgetown, Ont.) has been selected a NJCAA Division II All-American. Gomm broke the Parkland College single season home run record with 20 and hit .455. For his efforts, Gomm was named to the All Mid-West Athletic Conference Team.

Pitre pounds out pair of hits

It was a tough end for the University of Kentucky as they were eliminated in the Super Regionals by LSU, but Emilien Pitre (Repentigny, Que.) had a strong final week. He drove in a run as the Wildcats beat Indiana on Monday to win the Lexington Regional. Then against LSU he went 2-for-5 with two stolen bases in an 8-3 Game 2 loss.

That’s it for another year of the BMOC. Watch later this week for a piece on the College World Series.